Mark Connors, MD, has 32 years of experience in studying virus-specific immunity in humans and animal models.  He has spent this time studying the immune response to HIV,RSV, and Influenza virus.  Dr. Connors did his fellowship training under Robert Chanock and Brian Murphy examining the immune response to respiratory virus vaccines. As Chief of the HIV-Specific Immunity Section of the Laboratory of Immunoregulation, NIAID, he directs research in understanding the mechanistic basis of an effective humoral and cellular response to HIV.  His laboratory seeks to take the best available examples of immunologic control of HIV or antibody breadth in nature and systematically dissect the underlying mechanisms of these responses. Dr. Connors has published more than 130 peer-reviewed papers, many in high-impact journals, and much of the work is very highly cited.  Most important, his lab’s work on the cellular and humoral immune response to HIV has had a major impact on our current understanding of the basis of an effective immune response to HIV and other viruses and has suggested possible routes to use that information in strategies for immunization or immunotherapy.  More recently his lab has used this information to examine the components (replication, route, valency, adjuvants, innate immunity response) of vaccines that contribute to an effective immune response to HIV, influenza virus, or SARS-CoV-2.  This work includes basic immunology in humans and experimental animals, and the completion of 4 clinical trials of Ad4 recombinant vaccines for HIV and Influenza virus.